Smart, Sassy, or Sweet: Make Your Content Speak in Your Brand Voice - Vassilena Valchanova [ΕΝ]

You’re already producing useful content that educates and informs. But if you “remove the label” (or the logo in the header), will people know that content is yours? If the answer is “Not sure”, then you need to strengthen your brand’s voice.

People want to connect with content that has a strong personality. This makes building your brand voice a key part of your content’s differentiation strategy. And that’s not just relevant for blog posts – the best brands will make you chuckle, feel inspired, or cared for even with the modals, buttons, and form descriptions across the site. In this session, learn how defining a brand tone of voice is much more than just throwing a bunch of adjectives on a whiteboard and seeing what sticks.

You’ll learn specific exercises that will help your team make sense of the madness and create an actionable voice blueprint that works in real life.

Transcript

1. WordCamp Athens SMART, SASSY OR SWEET Make Your Content Speak in Your Brand Voice
2. Hi! I’m Vassy. I help brands build meaningful relationships and scale them through digital channels. @vasvalch valchanova.me Vassilena Valchanova
3. who says what
4. why Why bother with tone of voice? stand out from competitors humanize the brand build trust through familiarity influence through liking
5. why Heard first from Ann Handley
6. 404 Not Found
7. who says what
8. who says what
9. step 1 Do some research
10. step 1 Research and planning Values and mission Existing content Internal conversations Audience research Competitor research Channel specifics Local specifics
11. step 2 Dig deeper
12. step 2 Personality sliders Originated by GV
13. step 2 Tone of voice dimensions Originated by Nielsen Norman Group
14. step 2 Tone of voice dimensions Originated by Nielsen Norman Group
15. Order-motivated brands provide structure to the world step 2 Brand archetypes Social-motivated brands connect with others Ego-motivated brands leave a mark on the world Freedom-motivated brands surmount any boundary
16. step 3 Codify and put to use
17. step 3 Brand voice chart Originated by Content Marketing Institute; graph by CoSchedule
18. step 3 Brand style guide
19. step 3 Context scenarios • Marketing content • Advertising • Customer service • Product copy • Investor memos • ...
20. step 3 Chief Voice Officer EDITORIAL REVIEW
21. WordCamp Athens THANK YOU! Get the exercise templates and more at valchanova.me/slides